The Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum Management Plan

Prepared by John A. Miller, Park Historian

First draft composed on October 18, 2014

Based upon the California State Parks Museum Services Section

Archaeology, History and Museums Division

Maryland State Park, Department of Natural Resources, South Mountain State Battlefield

Museum & Collections Policy

Chapter 1:  Mission Statement

1.1 Purpose and Description of the Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum

Chapter 2: Museum Purpose and Classification

2.1 Museum Purpose

2.2 Standard Museum Operations

2.3 Visitor Profile

2.4 Rules of the Building

Chapter 3:  Collections Policy

3.1 The Policy

Chapter 4:  Cataloging

4.1 Artifact Acquisition

4.2 Artifact Loans (Outgoing)

4.3 Artifact Loans (Incoming)

4.4 Collections Accessibility

4.5 Deaccessions

4.6 Public Disclosure

4.7 Inventory

4.8 Artifact Database

Chapter One: Mission Statement

1. Mission Statement

The mission of the Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum (MPBM) is to interpret and exhibit artifacts related to the battle of Monterey Pass, the Pennsylvania Campaign of 1863, and the American Civil War as it relates to Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Through these exhibits, the museum shall encourage audiences to examine the past and its relationship to our shared future.

Chapter Two: Museum Purpose and Classification

2.1 Museum Purpose

The Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum houses the collection of artifacts that were found or are related to the battle of Monterey Pass and the American Civil War. The museum features five galleries that interpret the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania that occurred on June 15, 1863, the battle of Monterey Pass, and the Confederate retreat. Museum panels tell the story not only of the battle of Monterey Pass, but the impact that the 1863 Pennsylvania Campaign had on Washington Township and the people of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. For the interpretive plan, please review the Chapter Two of the Conceptual Development Plan.

Much of the collection was donated by individuals who live in the area. Our collection consists of uniforms, weaponry, accoutrements, and personal items that would be used by the Civil War soldier. In our collection, we also have a period dress and bonnet. Each piece tells its own story, however, it also tells the story of Washington Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and the battle of Monterey Pass.

The building and grounds are owned by Washington Township. However, it is the Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield, Inc. (FMPB) whom maintain and operate the museum through donations and volunteers. Volunteers are selected and trained in accordance of National Park Service Interpretive standards. Volunteers are scheduled for weekends only from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is under the recommendation to have one full time person stationed at the museum as a paid position as volunteers sometimes are unable to commit to certain weekends. This position could also be incorporated into the park plans.

Although, there are no paid positions, the Board of Directors in accordance with Washington Township will appoint a Director of Operations. That person will oversee all operations and ensure that good museum stewardship is being practiced. The museum director and facilities committee will coordinate all upgrades, maintenance and additional add-ons.

2.2 Standard Museum Operations

2.2a Opening Operations

1. After the alarm has been disarmed, turn on the track lighting.

2. Unlock the main front door.  You have to turn the lock to unlock, and then turn the inside handle to get the door to unlock, otherwise, the door will remain locked from the outside.

3. Check to see if the floor needs to be swept.  All cleaning supplies are in the storage room.  

4. In bathrooms, empty trash, replace toilet paper, paper towels and soap if needed and clean if necessary. Keys to soap dispenser, toilet paper and paper towel holders are on a key ring in the drawer by the sink in the storage room.

5. Spot clean finger prints on the display cases.  Windex and paper towels are in the storage room under the sink.

6. Check brochure holders and fill when necessary.

7. Place open flag outside on kiosk.

8. Raise flags on flagpole.

9. Pick up any trash from the parking lot.

10. Make sure TV is on and the DVD is looping properly.

2.2a: Closing Operations

1. Turn off TV.

2. Check brochure holders and fill when necessary.

3. Sweep the floor.

4. In bathrooms, empty trash, replace toilet paper & paper towels if needed and clean if necessary.  

5. Turn off bathroom lights; do not wait for automatic shutoff.

6. Wipe glass cases with water and soft towel.

7. Take down open flag on the kiosk and place in storage room inside.

8. Take the flags down from the flagpole and store inside.

9. Pick up any trash from the parking lot.

10. Make sure all doors are locked and deadbolts are secured. Double check to make sure the deadbolts in each bathroom for the doors that go to the outside are still locked.

11. Arm the alarm.

2.2: Customer Service

In order to provide a first rate museum experience for our visitors, it is important to understand what museums are, why people come to museums, and how people learn in the museum, and interact with exhibits.

It is our goal to provide the highest level of customer service to our community and visitors, while maintaining professional museum standards. It is the responsibility of all staff and volunteers to answer visitors’ questions, and ensure that the public’s experience is positive, while protecting the integrity of our mission.

One important step in sharing our local history is to know our local history! In order to educate others, you must first educate yourself.

For our staff who spend the majority of their time in the exhibit galleries and are giving tours, we use the term docent.

Visitor Service means to assist with all aspects including reception desk, registration for public programs, visitor statistics, patrolling galleries, and assisting with shop sales and inventory.

2.3 Visitor Profile

2.3a: Why People Visit Museums

• The Explorer: Needs to satisfy personal curiosity.
• The Facilitator: Wishes to engage in a meaningful social experience with someone in an educationally supportive environment.
• The Experience seeker: Aspires to be exposed to the things and ideas that exemplify what is best and intellectually most important within a culture or community.
• The Professional/Hobbyist: Desires to further specific intellectual needs in a setting with a specific subject matter focus.
• The Recharger: Yearns to physically, emotionally, and intellectually recharge in a beautiful and refreshing environment.

2.3b: Getting to Know your Visitor

• You must decide the depth of information you will convey.
• We want our visitors to leave with a positive and memorable experience.
• Figure out where the visitor is from.
• Many locals here are still unaware of the battle taking place.
• People always seem to think that the Civil War is primitive.
• Figure out how to connect them to 150 years ago.

2.3c: Ways People Learn in Museums

• Visual: These learners tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information.
• Verbal: These learners have highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words rather than pictures.
• Logical: These learners think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns, making connections between pieces of information.
• Bodily: These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good sense of balance and eye-hand coordination.
• Musical: These musically inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music either appreciating or criticizing what they hear.
• Interpersonal: These learners try to see things from other people’s point of view in order to understand how they think and feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations.
• Intrapersonal: These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships with others, and strengths and weaknesses.

2.4 Rules of the Building

• No outside food or drinks.
• No dogs, cats, horses, birds and snakes. Service dogs are welcome.
• Shoes and shirts are required.
• Children must be restrained by their parents at all times.
• Please restrain visitors from leaning on cases.
• No flash photography.
• For emergencies, always call 911.

Chapter 3: Collections Policy

The Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum houses the collection of artifacts that were found or are related to the battle of Monterey Pass and the American Civil War. The museum features five galleries that interpret the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania that occurred on June 15, 1863, the battle of Monterey Pass, and the Confederate retreat. Museum panels tell the story not only of the battle of Monterey Pass, but the impact that the 1863 Pennsylvania Campaign had on Washington Township and the people of Franklin County, Pennsylvania.

Much of our collection was donated by individuals who live in the area. Our collection consists of uniforms, weaponry, accoutrements, and personal items that would be used by the Civil War soldier. In our collection, we also have a period dress and bonnet. Each piece tells its own story, however, it also tells the story of Washington Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and the battle of Monterey Pass.

3.1 The Policy

3.1a: What types of items would the museum accept?

• Authentic Civil War Era Artifacts (both civilian & military) associated with:
• The Battle of Monterey Pass
• The Pennsylvania Campaign of 1863
• Military and/or civilian life during this time period
• Other unique artifacts from this period
• Items to Include: Clothing, Photographs, Uniforms, Military-Style Weapons, and Equipment, as well as Tools.

3.1b: Will the Museum purchase artifacts?

Our museum funding is very limited, so we rely heavily on donated materials and artifacts.

3.1c: Will the Museum exhibit the artifacts in my donation?

The museum cannot guarantee that any object will go on exhibit. Like most museums, only a small fraction of our collection will be on display at any given time.

3.1d: Can I take a tax deduction for my donation?

Your contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law, due to the Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield, Inc.'s status as a not-for-profit charitable organization. The fair market value of your donated materials is generally tax deductible. We recommend that you consult your accountant, attorney, or the Internal Revenue Service if you have any questions. If you wish to have your items appraised, please do so before giving them to the museum.

3.1e: I will make a donation only if I can set certain conditions for my object. Are you still interested?

This policy is to not accept gifts that come with strings attached. Conditions including, but not limited to, donor recognition and display requirements are not in line with modern museum practices. Many museums find themselves devoting resources trying to adhere to or resolve these types of issues, and we certainly do not wish to create similar problems for our successors.

Chapter 4: Cataloging

The Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum (MPBM) shall interpret and exhibit artifacts related to the battle of Monterey Pass, the Pennsylvania Campaign of 1863, and or the American Civil War. Through exhibits, the museum will encourage audiences to examine the past and its relationship to our shared future.

4.1 Artifact Acquisition

4.1a: MPBM subscribes to a policy of selective acquisition.  

All artifacts, even if appropriate to the purposes of the site, may not be desirable acquisitions because of their unique relationship to or duplication of existing collections, the museum’s capability to preserve the object, and cost and space considerations.

4.1b: Artifacts acquired by MPBM shall meet the following conditions:

• Acquisitions must reflect the purpose of the site.
• MPBM must possess the capability to properly manage and preserve the acquisition.
• Acquisitions must meet the ongoing requirements of the site for exhibitions, research, collection development, interpretive emphasis, and/or programming.
• Artifacts are considered high priority if associated with:
• The Battle of Monterey Pass
• The Pennsylvania Campaign of 1863
• Military and/or civilian life during this time period
• Other unique artifacts from this period
• MPBM shall not knowingly and willfully accept or acquire any object that was illegally imported into or recovered under circumstances that would support or encourage irresponsible damage to or destruction of sites, artifacts, cultural or natural monuments, or human burial places.  MPBM may accept objects that have been confiscated and offered to the site by government authorities.

4.1c: Acquire Artifacts

MPBM shall acquire artifacts through means of donation, purchase, or exchange with other cultural institutions.

4.1d: Approval of Artifacts

The Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield, Inc. shall have sole approval to ascertain that conditions of acquisition have been met and will approve or disapprove of the artifact’s acceptance into the collections.

4.1e: Title of Ownership

• Title to all objects acquired for the collections should be obtained free and clear, without restrictions as to use, exhibition, or other future disposition.

• A legal instrument of conveyance, setting forth an adequate description of the artifacts involved and the nature of transfer, shall accompany all gifts, purchases, or exchanges and shall be kept on file with the official site records.

• Negotiations with potential donors will be made in an unbiased, truthful and objective manner, making clear all provisions of acquisition and potential future disposition of proffered collections.

• A permanent record system including the legal and documentary aspects of acquisitions shall be maintained and administered by the site office.

• Staff and trustees of the site shall not give appraisals for the purpose of establishing tax-deductible value of gifts offered to the site.  Donors must have independent appraisals made for tax purposes.  The site will however, confirm the donor’s gift as per IRS requirements.

• Informal identification of artifacts may be given by staff provided the artifact owner understands the service represents only an informal opinion and does not imply or express authentication or value.  In addition, such service shall not be used in connection with any past or contemplated commercial transaction.

• Personal collecting of artifacts by MPBM staff creates potential ethical problems and conflict of interest considerations.  No employee or Trustee should compete with MPBM in any personal collecting activity that is in conflict with the site’s written acquisition priorities to be developed by staff on a regular basis.

• When an individual has acquired an artifact that may be in conflict with the site’s collecting priorities, MPBM should be notified in writing of the existence of such artifacts.  Following study and examination of the artifacts the site shall have the option of acquiring the object from the individual at the same cost paid by the individual; however, MPBM shall acquire the artifact only if it conforms to the conditions noted in Sections A or B above.

• Disclosing personal collecting activity protects the individual from potential conflicts of interest, and maintains the generally accepted ethical and professional standards of museums as elaborated by the American Association of Museums in Museum Ethics.

2. Artifact Loans (Outgoing)

MPBM may lend artifacts to museums and institutions formed for educational and scientific purposes.  Loans are for exhibit and research purposes.  No loans will be made to individuals.  Loans are made upon approval of Washington Township subject to the general criteria governing loan requests and review by the site manager.

4.2a: Consideration of loan requests is governed by the following general criteria:

• Requesting organization must be a bona fide educational institution.
• Security and conservation measures must meet generally accepted museum practices, the nature of which may vary with the type of artifact requested.
• Loans are subject to the availability of staffing, scheduling and workload.
• Artifacts presently on exhibit shall not be removed for loan purposes.
• Loan agreements shall be made for a period not to exceed one year.  Loan renewals may be made upon review and approval of Washington Township and site manager.
• The requesting organization must agree to observe the MPBM conditions governing loans.
• Even if the above considerations are met, loan requests may be denied if the requested items are of such rarity, value, significance, fragility or are so related to ongoing needs that the loan would not be in the best interest of MPBM.

4.2b: All loans are subject to the following regulations, which will be enforced when agreements are made.

• The borrower will insure the loan under its own policy and or the borrower agrees to assume liability for loss or damage in lieu of insurance (this option is available only when the total value of the objects loaned is less than $1,000).
• Borrower must arrange and pay for shipping in both directions.
• Items placed on exhibit must be secured and protected by methods prescribed by MPBM.
• Only persons designated by MPBM shall be permitted to handle, move or pack material.
• Borrower shall exercise care at all times to ensure safe handling and keeping of artifacts.  As much care must be taken in dismantling exhibits in which these artifacts appear as in installing them.
• No artifacts may be altered, embellished, modified, or dismantled in any way.
• Borrowed artifacts may not be used for any commercial purpose without specific advance approval from MPBM.
• No artifacts may be re-loaned by the borrower.
• Packing for return shipping must be in the same manner and means as the original shipping unless otherwise approved by MPBM.
• MPBM may require, at the borrower’s expense, that a MPBM representative accompany loans and that unpacking be done under the supervision of a MPBM representative.
• Each object shall be labeled during exhibition “Courtesy of” and such other information shall be included as per the specific loan agreement.
• Appropriate loan forms shall prescribe the procedure for all loans.  A complete record of loan transactions shall be centrally located and administered by MPBM.

4.3 Artifact Loans (Incoming)

4.3a: Incoming loans shall be accepted from individuals or institutions for purposes of exhibition or current research at MPBM.  No indefinite loans or long-term loans shall be routinely accepted, except in rare instances (e.g., circumstances of rarity or extremely important materials or loans form federal agencies).

4.3b: MPBM cannot normally store and maintain materials belonging to others that are not required for exhibition or ongoing research.

4.4 Collections Accessibility

• All permanent museum collections and related records of MPBM are held in public trust.

• Collections and related records shall be made available for legitimate study, research, inquiry, and examination by responsible parties.

• The site manager shall approve requests for access to collections.  Such requests will be documented and kept in permanent records.

• Access to and use of collections and records shall be credited appropriately in all publications, exhibits, and other presentations.

• Unless otherwise approved in writing by the site manager, commercial or promotional use of collections and images or information resulting from their examination shall not be allowed.

• Access to collections will be supervised by staff at all times, unless otherwise approved by the site manager.

• Loan collections and access to them will be governed by the same policies as the permanent collections, unless other arrangements are made by the lender and approved by the site manager.

• Decisions on the physical use of collections shall be guided by the following criteria: preservation of the collections as primary concern, artifact’s value to the collections, duplication of artifact in the collection, artifact condition, nature and value of potential use.

• Accessibility to collections and records may be limited by staff availability, conservation needs, fragility, nature of exam and exhibit requirements.

• Restrictions may exist on certain types of information such as donor-stipulated closed files or donor-requested anonymity or other restrictions such as the location of archaeological sites.

• Photography of collections.  On exhibit may be done with hand-held cameras, the use of tripods or other equipment may require advance approval.  Collections not on exhibit will, in most cases by photographed by staff and in all instances photography of these collections will be closely supervised by staff to ensure proper handling methods.

4.5 Deaccessions

• To effectively manage and maintain appropriate collections, it may from time to time be necessary to transfer ownership or discard inappropriate and/or duplicate, extraneous artifacts.

• A legal transfer of ownership, permanently removing them from the collection of the MPBM is necessary to deaccession artifacts. The method used for this process shall conform to the State’s procedures on removing excess inventory.

• All prospective deaccessions and methods of disposition shall be recommended by the site historian and must be approved by the Washington Township

• Unless otherwise specified, a reasonable attempt shall be made to return prospective deaccessions to the original donor prior to disposal by other means.

• Artifacts may also be transferred to another educational institution through gift, or exchange of other artifacts, or through purchase by that institution.

• Artifacts inappropriately acquired and of no value to MPBM or other institutions may be physically destroyed.

• Items of no value to other institutions, but sill retaining some characteristics of interest to the general public, may be sold at public auction.

• Permanent records of the deaccession shall be maintained and include:

• Nature and date of deaccession action.
• Photograph, description and other pertinent information for each object.
• The authority for the deaccessioning action.
• Verification of ownership by MPBM.

• There shall be no sale of transfer of ownership to any staff members, Trustees or their representatives.

• MPBM shall ascertain to the best of its knowledge that it has legal title and ownership of an object prior to carrying out any deaccession action.

4.6 Public Disclosure

• Artifact collection policies of Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum shall be made available upon request and appropriate portions of summaries thereof shall be part of all collection transaction documents.

4.7 Inventory

4.7a: To add/view Items:

• Open proper tab (located at the bottom of the spread-sheet) Monterey Pass Battlefield Artifacts
• On Loan Artifacts
• Chain of Custody

4.7b: Collecting, Storage and Display

• For each new item entered, a Serial Number, Item Name, Storage Location, Display Location and Note must be assigned.
• Serial Numbers are in sequential order with most recent entries at the end.
• An Item Name must be the technical and exact name of artifacts.
• Storage Location is:
• The storage cabinet name
• The shelf or location with in the specific cabinet
• The artifact’s box number
• Display Location simply identifies where the artifact is a present.
• Notes should include an artifacts dimensions, material composition, color, state of preservation and possible story/context.
• For each time the database is accessed or artifacts are handled, the Chain of Custody must be filled out.

4.7c: Serial Number

All artifacts have a Serial Number indication by: Location – Entry Year – Identification Number – Acquisition Year.

Artifact Example:

• WT-11-0001-11A
• 2-letter Location
• 2-digit Entry Year (Into database)
• 4-digit ID Number
• 2-digit Acquisition Year
• A-letter for collection

Acquisition year for artifacts acquired before the Monterey Pass Battlefield was established “11” (2011)unless otherwise known.

4.8 The Artifact Data Base

See attached sheet